Table of Contents
Yellowstone National Park
West Thumb Basin
This morning, we visited West Thumb Basin. This was a quieter area than Norris and there were some really interesting things to see there. Thumbs Up! The best sights to include on your trip checklist were:
Abyss Pool
Abyss Pool – one of the deeper hot springs descending to 53 feet and varies from turquoise blue to emerald green and various shades of brown …
Fishing Cone
Fishing Cone – where in late 19th century, Visitors dressed in a chef’s hat and apron and had their picture taken catching a fish in the lake and cooking it in the “Chowder Pot”. That’s all stopped now – too many scalded feet and too much damage to the geyser edge.
After a quick lunch at the diner style restaurant near Lake Lodge, we set off on the Elephant Back trail to get a good view of the lake from high up. It took us a couple of hours to get up and back – a pretty strenuous walk made harder by the need to clap your hands at every switchback and sing jingle bells at the top of your voice to scare the bears away. The signs at the trailhead are very off-putting indeed, but necessary, I suppose. “Thumbs Up and Jingle Bells!”
The view from the top was lovely – you could see the islands in the lake where Pelicans nest, although to reach them would take for ever – it is wilderness territory – the birds choose it for their nesting ground because it is so inaccessible.
Foodie Firsts
We enjoyed a Rusty Nail ale by the fireside at sundown – another lovely day here in Yellowstone.
I think we have really done Yellowstone Park justice, but you really need the full 6 days to do that. We have the Old Faithful geyser basin still to explore – that is tomorrow’s trip.
